There needs to be a change in the leadership of Palatine Township.

As many of you know I am running with a slate of candidates for Palatine Township Trustee.  This election is important enough that I am going to deviate from the normal purpose of this column of discussing events around town.  Why?  Because this election will have an affect on what goes on in our community.

There needs to be a change in the leadership of Palatine Township.  Our Township is being run by career politicians who have stopped listening to the community.  They are more concerned about keeping their jobs and pensions than serving the community.  Sharon Langlotz-Johnson, Art Goes and Bill Huley were tired of this attitude and decided to break away from the current Township government and form a new slate with Tom Kaider, Kathy Allegretti, Kevin McGrane and, me, Bill Pohlman.

When was the last time that someone from the Township asked you what you want to see happen in the Township?  If our slate wins the election, that will change.  We want your opinions on what you would like to see happen in our Township.  We intend to get community input on the direction you would like to see our programs take and create a strategic plan in that direction.

We know your concerns go further than what happens in the Township.  You want your Township officials to make sure that there are tight restraints on how your money is spent.  Our slate is running because we believe that for far too long Township government hasn’t had the proper respect for the public’s tax dollars.  We believe that it is the taxpayers’ money that we are spending and that we must spend it wisely and conservatively.

We need to look at our expenses and cut the budget without diminishing services.  We plan to make a 5% cut by looking at salaries and bringing them in par with other municipalities, avoiding overtime where possible and making sure that expenditures are only made for worthwhile projects.  Our goal is to create a plan that makes sure that all taxpayers are benefitting from Township services and that tight cost controls are kept on that plan.

Our slate is endorsed by the Palatine Township Republican Organization, the official Republican organization of Palatine Township, the Save Briarwood Committee and Aaron Del Mar, Cook County GOP Chairman.  The slate includes Sharon Langlotz-Johnson for Township Supervisor, Tom Kaider for Highway Commissioner, Kathy Allegretti for Clerk and Bill Pohlman, Art Goes, Kevin McGrane as well as Bill Huley for Trustee.

Township government has taken to the refrain “but we’ve always done it this way!” for far too long.  I pledge that I and the Doing Things Better slate will never use this excuse to avoid making progress.  We will promote commonsense reforms and innovations in order to be more efficient, transparent and accountable to the people we serve.

Politics and the Township